County attorney claims collaboration between DOJ, immigrant group

Published: Friday, March 1, 2013 at 05:23 PM.

Albright’s memo to the commissioners indicates he believes that the three illegal immigrants’ deportations were dismissed in return for their cooperation in the DOJ investigation.

“One can only wonder what promises were made by the DOJ to obtain testimony against the sheriff from these three criminals that were arrested by the sheriff,” Albright stated.

Rosenbluth said Thursday his clients did have their deportation proceedings dismissed, but said there were no promises or deals made by the DOJ in return for testimony in the lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Office.

Since last September, Rosenbluth said he has represented 10 illegal immigrants arrested in Alamance County who had their deportation proceedings dismissed for prosecutorial discretion.

Rosenbluth said his office has received calls from Latinos over the past year who have claimed the Sheriff’s Office unlawfully discriminated against them and he has directed them to contact the DOJ about their cases. Albright’s letter stated that, “(Rosenbluth) has been involved in the attack against the sheriff since it began in 2007 and has worked with the ACLU in that regard.”

Rosenbluth said he has only worked to protect the civil rights of those illegal immigrants arrested by law enforcement and believes that those charged with no operators license shouldn’t be considered high risk and should not be held for deportation proceedings.

Rosenbluth has represented undocumented immigrants in Alamance, Mecklenburg, Wake, Johnston, and Jackson counties. He has also represented undocumented immigrants in South Carolina as well who face deportation proceedings.

GRAHAM — In a memo to county commissioners this week, County Attorney Clyde Albright claims that a local immigrant rights group has made deals with the U.S. Department of Justice for illegal immigrants who provide testimony against Sheriff Terry Johnson in a discrimination lawsuit.

“I obtained letters that show the DOJ is collaborating with the North Carolina Immigrant Rights Project to obtain dismissal of deportation proceedings against three illegal aliens arrested by the sheriff in July of 2012 and August of 2012,” Albright’s memo stated. “These letters appeared in a legal clinic website as examples of how to get the federal government to drop deportation proceedings against illegal aliens.”

The April 26, 2012 letters obtained by Albright were from attorney Martin Rosenbluth representing North Carolina Immigrant Rights Project to U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Chief Counsel Alfie Owens.

In the letters, Rosenbluth asks the Department of Homeland Security to exercise prosecutorial discretion authority and terminate deportation proceedings for three of his clients. Rosenbluth said this week he has represented many illegal immigrants facing deportation in Alamance County and other counties across the state.

“As you are aware, on June 17, 2011 ICE Director John Morton issued a memo to ICE Field Office Directors, Special Agents in Charge, and Chief Counsels, to provide guidance to all ICE officials on the exercise of prosecutorial discretion,” Rosenbluth’s letter states.

Rosenbluth said his clients were taken into ICE custody after they were arrested by the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office on charges of driving a vehicle without an operator’s license. These clients were cooperating after their arrests as witnesses for the Department of Justice into the practices of the Sheriff’s Office, according to the letters.

Their removal from the country by the federal government would negatively affect the DOJ”s investigation, according to Rosenbluth’s letter.

Albright’s memo to the commissioners indicates he believes that the three illegal immigrants’ deportations were dismissed in return for their cooperation in the DOJ investigation.

“One can only wonder what promises were made by the DOJ to obtain testimony against the sheriff from these three criminals that were arrested by the sheriff,” Albright stated.

Rosenbluth said Thursday his clients did have their deportation proceedings dismissed, but said there were no promises or deals made by the DOJ in return for testimony in the lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Office.

Since last September, Rosenbluth said he has represented 10 illegal immigrants arrested in Alamance County who had their deportation proceedings dismissed for prosecutorial discretion.

Rosenbluth said his office has received calls from Latinos over the past year who have claimed the Sheriff’s Office unlawfully discriminated against them and he has directed them to contact the DOJ about their cases. Albright’s letter stated that, “(Rosenbluth) has been involved in the attack against the sheriff since it began in 2007 and has worked with the ACLU in that regard.”

Rosenbluth said he has only worked to protect the civil rights of those illegal immigrants arrested by law enforcement and believes that those charged with no operators license shouldn’t be considered high risk and should not be held for deportation proceedings.

Rosenbluth has represented undocumented immigrants in Alamance, Mecklenburg, Wake, Johnston, and Jackson counties. He has also represented undocumented immigrants in South Carolina as well who face deportation proceedings.

ALBRIGHT’S MEMO TOthe commissioners didn’t solely focus on Rosenbluth. He said the DOJ had not reviewed sheriff’s records that the county sent them in 2009 and again in 2011. Albright participated in a conference call with DOJ attorneys Samantha Trepel and Michael Songer on Feb. 25. DOJ’s computer personnel also participated.

“In that call the DOJ admitted that they had not looked at the computer data we sent to them in 2009 and again in 2011,” Albright said. “Unbelievably, the DOJ for the third time has again requested the computer data from the county and the sheriff.”

Albright questioned what facts the DOJ had based its report on last September since they hadn’t looked at any of the records.

“The DOJ apparently is relying on witness statements procured by Fairness Alamance based upon promises of deferred action,” Albright said.

Albright mentioned that the DOJ had been in Alamance County for four days over the past two weeks to inform Fairness Alamance about the state of the lawsuit. Fairness Alamance is a local immigration rights group that advocates on behalf of the local population.

“Why is the DOJ sending their attorneys for four days to Alamance County to meet with Latinos if they already have evidence to support their second lawsuit?” Albright said.

A SCHEDULE FORdiscovery has been set by the parties involved in the DOJ lawsuit filed on Dec. 20 by the U.S. Justice Department against Johnson.

The United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina reviewed a joint report filed by Songer and Trepel and Johnson’s defense attorney Chuck Kitchen during a teleconference held on Jan. 30. The parties proposed to the court its plans for discovery. The scheduled date to complete all discovery in the case is Dec. 20.

The DOJ complaint alleges that ACSO routinely discriminates against and targets Latinos for enforcement action, in violation of the U.S. Constitution and Section 14141 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.

Johnson has denied any wrongdoing by his department and said that the ACSO does not engage in profiling of Spanish-speaking persons. Johnson has not returned to work since suffering a heart attack on Feb. 2.